Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.
Championing Corruption?
You might remember Rev. Jerry McAfee from the headlines he made in February, back when he stormed a Minneapolis City Council meeting and made threatening statements while representing his violence prevention group. (Or, maybe, from 12 years ago, when he teamed with Minnesota Republicans to oppose same-sex marriage.)
Minnesota Senate President Bobby Joe Champion (DFL-Minneapolis) has lots of McAfee memories, including the multiple bills he has authored to steer $4 million toward the Rev’s groups since 2023, the Minnesota Reformer’s Christopher Ingraham reports. Making matters more interesting (and perhaps deeply unethical): Beginning in 2022, Champion represented McAfee and his nonprofit, Salem Inc., in four court cases related to unpaid mortgages.
Fishy as hell? You bet, and Ingraham’s reporting only amplifies the stench of corruption.
Champion claims he was acting pro-bono in his private capacity as a lawyer, and that he didn’t need to disclose the apparent conflict because the cases wrapped up before his bills to enrich McAfee’s groups were introduced. That timeline was easily debunked (at least two of the cases were awaiting final judgment in '23), and when the Reformer asked McAfee whether he paid Champion for his legal services, he replied, “I won’t answer that... Is there something on the books that would prevent me from hiring him as an attorney?” Champion boasted of records detailing his pro-bono clients, but in a classic “Steamed Hams” moment, he simply refused to show them.
Ingraham asked Richard Painter if Champion violated conflict of interest rules, to which the U of M law prof responded "clear[ly]." (Painter, it must always be noted, earned the dubious distinction of serving as chief ethics lawyer for the George W. Bush administration—ya know, the one allegedly responsible for all those sub-ethical war crimes.)
“Nobody should sponsor a bill in the Legislature favoring a client, pro-bono or not, it doesn’t matter,” Painter continues. “It’s a basic principle that in a legislative body, if there is a bill that’s going to help your client, you say, ‘This is my client.’”
For a deeper dive into the apparent back-scratching chicanery, read the full report from the Reformer.
Update: Champion provided Racket the following statement late Friday... "Our conflict of interest rules cover situations that directly and financially benefit individual legislators. Because my work in this matter occurred in the past, and was unpaid, there was no potential conflict to disclose."
12 Theaters Come Together To Protest NEA Restrictions
Back in February, the National Endowment of the Arts issued a series of new restrictions for applicants. Artists and organizations must agree not to "operate any programs promoting 'diversity, equity, and inclusion' that violate any applicable federal anti-discrimination laws" and grants may not be used to "promote gender ideology." That transphobic one was dropped in March, but may be coming back soon given today’s U.S. District Court in Rhode Island ruling.
That’s a lot of bullshit, and artists across the United States agree. That includes 12 theaters in town, who are responding with a cabaret titled Don’t Expect Indifference: A Twin Cities Theater Cabaret. “This event is not a full representation of all our creative colleagues and friends who keep the arts community humming,” says Christina Baldwin, artistic director at Jungle Theater. “But we need a moment to be together and remember we are stronger together.”
Other theaters include Teatro del Pueblo, Yellow Tree Theatre, Mixed Blood Theatre, Pillsbury House Theatre, Trademark Theater, Theater Latté Da, Theater Mu, Park Square Theatre, An Opera Theatre, and Nautilus Music-Theater—all groups that could be dinged by the current administration for being DEI- and LGBTQ-friendly.
In-person tickets to the free show on April 22 have already sold out, but the program will also be free to livestream.
The Future of MN Ed Spending
MinnPost's Matthew Blake reports that "fierce and unpredictable fights" are underway at the State Capitol regarding K-12 funding—specifically around where legislators can cut to make up for the major increase in per-pupil spending that follows progressive wins like free breakfast and lunch for Minnesota’s 850,000 students. The state faces a $6 billion deficit for the two-year budget cycle beginning in 2027, and coupled with uncertainty around the future of federal funding... well, you can see why, according to Blake, there's a "glum" feeling around crafting the state's next biennial budget.
And that the feeling is especially acute when it comes to K-12 education spending, which makes up 38% of the roughly (hail Satan!) $66.6 billion budget Walz has proposed. “This is an extremely hard time,” Mary Kunesh (DFL-New Brighton) said at the Senate Education Finance Committee meeting she chaired earlier this week. “It is heartbreaking in a lot of different ways in a lot of different areas.”
Who wants what? What's going to happen? How do charter schools fit in? It's all pretty complicated, frankly, so go ahead and read the story in full if you're curious.
Racism Over!
According to the Twins, that is. Eagle-eyed Redditors noticed that Target Field's heroic END RACISM sign has been replaced during this season of corporate DEI panic with... an ad for insurance company Progressive. How progressive!
